Google searches for "Bitcoin" and "Ethereum" improved slightly in March, reaching the highest level of the year

Retail investors’ curiosity is reignited as searches for “Bitcoin” and “Ethereum” surge on Google.

Search volume for “Bitcoin” increased 26% month-on-month.

In March 2025, “Bitcoin” was searched 34 times on Google, the highest level so far in 2025.

Google searches are measured on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest value in a given time period. 100 is the peak since December 2017. For reference, searches in January and February were only 31 and 27, respectively. This marks a 26% month-on-month increase in searches for “Bitcoin,” marking a turnaround from the metric’s downward trend since November 2024.

Similarly, searches for “Ethereum” on Google in March also reached their highest level so far in 2025, at 19 times. This is a slight increase from 16 times the previous month. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum searches on Google are measured on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the maximum over a given time period. In the case of Ethereum, 100 is the peak since May 2021.

While still far from previous cycle highs, the rise in Google search interest for Bitcoin and Ethereum in March may reflect renewed curiosity among retail investors, at least above the levels seen so far in 2025.

A broader theory for the rise in Bitcoin interest in March could be the newly announced U.S. tariffs, which may have reignited the “digital gold” and “store of value” narratives long associated with Bitcoin, especially against the backdrop of heightened geopolitical or macroeconomic tensions. This theory is supported by the Bitcoin (BTC) to S&P 500 (SPX) ratio, which has risen more than 8% since the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement on April 2.

However, a deeper look at other assets, especially gold, shows that the “primitive” store of value remains the asset of choice during times of macroeconomic stress, as the gold-to-Bitcoin (BTC) ratio and the gold-to-S&P 500 (SPX) ratio have risen by approximately 8% and 10%, respectively, since “Liberation Day.”